In Voyager’s transporter room, there is an alcove on the side, and embedded in the wall is what appears to be a small transporter pad. I don’t believe anyone is ever shown interacting with this, so there’s no definitive explanation for what it is. Assuming it is what it appears to be, what would be the purpose of a very small transporter like this?
The old method of the site to site transport was to send them to the transporter room then out to the destination, but at some point that wasn’t referenced anymore. I assumed this was the component that automated that process but without having to rematerialize at all, my same head-canon for the hidden back room on TNG(?).
The TNG tech manual says they go through the pattern buffer, which is under the pads- no rematerialization required.